


Pokemon Deep Black: Legends of Unova

by Hero_of_Truth



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: Black & White | Pokemon Black and White Versions
Genre: Action/Adventure, F/M, Gen, Isshu-chihou | Unova Region (Pokemon), Legendary Pokemon, Pokemon, Pokemon Battles, Pokemon Journey, Pokemon Training, Team Plasma (Pokemon)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-27
Updated: 2020-08-27
Packaged: 2021-03-06 23:13:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,239
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26146987
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hero_of_Truth/pseuds/Hero_of_Truth
Summary: A strange cult-like group that is rising in popularity. A young man who calls speaks of Pokemon liberation. Three friends setting out on their gym challenge, only to find themselves caught up in a scheme that could end the world as they know it forever. This is a story about truth and ideals, about heroes and dragons, about champions and legends, and at the center of it, Pokemon.
Relationships: N | Natural Harmonia Gropius/Original Character(s)
Kudos: 2





	Pokemon Deep Black: Legends of Unova

The wind rustled softly in the treetops, sending autumn leaves falling everywhere. Brilliant color from the late September sun dazzled the young boy’s eyes as he walked casually through the forest. It was his favorite time of year, when the leaves fell and the sticky warmth of summer was gone, replaced by a crisp chill that came with the scent of incoming snow and frost. Such beauty in a time when everything around him was falling asleep for the winter. Soon this whole landscape would be covered in white. He had to enjoy the last remnants of color while he could.

Beside him, a small Zorua trotted idly by his side. His tongue lolled happily out of his mouth, eyes twinkling with contentment. The two of them were siblings, were brothers, were friends. This wild Pokémon trusted the strange forest boy completely. He wasn’t even aware that the boy was not of his own kind.

The Zorua suddenly froze. He lifted his snout, sniffing intently at the air. His hackles raised, and a snarl left his throat.

The boy stopped and turned. He tilted his head inquisitively. _“What’s the matter, River?”_

_“Do you not smell it, Natural?”_ The Pokémon responded. _“Humans-in_ our _forest. How dare they intrude on our land? Don’t they know that this part of the forest is for Pokémon only?”_

The word sent shivers down Natural’s spine. Humans. Everyone in the forest was wary of them. Some more than others. Natural had heard the stories of Pokémon intentionally going out to find a human to call their master. Never had he met one, nor would he want to. Humans cause nothing but trouble-that was what his mother had taught him, and that was what he believed. To show yourself to one meant to lose your freedom, and on more gruesome occasions, your life.

_“Come on, Natural, let’s scare them away!”_ River fluffed up his fur and bared his teeth. _“We’ll show that this is no place for them! After we are through with them, no human will ever step foot in here again!”_

_“That’s a bad idea, River,”_ Natural warned. _“Humans might be loud and mean, but they aren’t stupid-they have pokeballs, remember? They could catch us and use us to fight other Pokémon!”_

_“Bah! Pokeballs don’t exist! They’re just myths that the adults made up to keep us from leaving the forest. Don’t tell me you_ actually _think they are real?”_

Natural fiddled with his fingers, looking down at his feet. _“I-I don’t think they are real! Of course pokeballs are myths! But-But we really_ should _listen to what the adults say. They know what’s best for us.”_

_“You truly have no sense of justice, do you?”_ River shook his head. _“Disappointing. Well, I’m not going to allow your pushover attitude stop me from protecting our home. Go and cower in the nest with Mother._ I’m _going to stop those humans.”_

_“River, wait!”_ Natural cried, but his call went unheard. River was gone, taking off into the forest, his large tail flailing out behind him as he ran away.

For a moment, Natural stood there, at a loss of what to do. Part of him wanted to return to his mother and warn her about River’s foolish quest to find the invading humans-the smart decision, he knew. And yet, the other half of him argued that he had to go after his brother. River was not as powerful as he claimed to be. There was no way he’d be able to fight off a group of humans by himself-the only moves he knew were Tackle and Leer. N was no better-he didn’t know any moves at all-but aiding River in escaping the humans was better than just standing by and doing nothing.

_Mother knows powerful moves. She’d be able to fight the humans off._

_But by the time I warn her and we manage to find them, River might be dead._

The thought of his brother being mortally wounded made Natural’s heart ache, and he knew what he had to do.

He breathed in deep, found River’s scent, and ran to follow the Zorua’s trail.

————

He found River hiding behind a tree, peering out from behind it in a crouched position. Natural albut collapsed beside him, panting hard as beads of sweat ran down his forehead.

_“H-Hey,”_ he gasped. _“You're not dead. Thank Arceus. Mother would have killed me if you were. Actually, she still might kill us for-”_

_“SHHHHH!”_ River hissed. _“Can’t you see I am SPYING on the ENEMY?”_

Natural followed his gaze, and felt his heart stop. Not too far away was a group of five humans. Tall, intimidating, and terrifying to look at. They were all dressed rather strangely, and spoke in some incoherent tongue that Natural couldn’t understand. At their sides were Pokemon- three Liepards, two Whirlipedes, and three Herdiers. He didn’t have to speak to them to know that they weren’t friendly and would have no problem ripping him and River to shreds.

The most noticeable human was a male that towered over the others. He had an aura of leadership to him-but not the kind that made Natural feel safe. It made him want to cower and whimper, to throw his hands over his head and do whatever was possible to stop the human from yelling and growling-the exact things the foreign creature was going at this very moment. Angry, guttural snarls came pouring out of the human’s mouth as he seemingly reprimanded the four other humans that were caught under his gaze. This was the group’s leader, no doubt about it.

It took him a moment to realize that the head human’s fur was the same exact color as his own long, tangly fur that draped over his shoulders and spilled down along his back-a lush, springy green.

Something about this human was familiar. And Natural didn’t like it at all.

_“Look at them,”_ River whispered, contempt oozing off of his words. _“Yelling and screaming like they own the place. How dare they come here like this? And why are there Pokemon with them? Did those_ traitors _lead them here?”_

_“I don’t know, and I don’t want to find out.”_ Natural went to grab River by the scruff of his neck. _“Come on, we’re leaving. It’s too dangerous to stay here.”_

River shook him off, nipping at his fingers. _“No! I refuse to allow these monsters to remain in our home! I’m going to stop them!”_

Natural tried to grab him, tried to prevent him from doing the insanely stupid move he _knew_ his brother was about to do, but it was too late. River ran out from the undergrowth and bounded toward the humans. _“You there!”_ he snarled. _“Get out of our home! Humans aren’t welcome here!”_

The humans went silent. All heads swiveled to stare at River. Natural’s terror rose to a pitch, and he slapped his hand over his mouth to prevent any noise from escaping his throat.

_“Well, well, well.”_ One of the Liepards stepped forward, examining River like he was fresh meat. No one looked even slightly scared of the small Zorua’s yapping; if anything, they were amused. _“What do we have here? A wild Pokemon, trying to frighten us! Isn’t that adorable.”_

River swelled up with anger. _“I am not adorable! I am a Zorua! I am a master illusionist, and I could take you all out with a swipe of my paw!”_

Natural wanted to strangle him. He was just _begging_ to be attacked! What in Arceus’ name was _wrong_ with him?

The Liepard snickered. _“You hear that, boys? This little shrimp here thinks he could defeat us in battle!”_

_“He looks a little...skinny to take us all on,”_ one of the Herdiers said, walking up to his companion’s side to examine River.

_“Yeah, poor guy seems like he could barely take on a leaf!”_ a Whiripede laughed.

_“A Caterpie could defeat this tiny thing,”_ another Liepard hissed.

River was shaking with rage. Screaming out a battle cry, he launched himself at the first Liepard, swiping his claws at the larger Pokemon’s face.

_OW!”_ the Liepard roared. He stumbled back, shaking his head as tiny droplets of blood leaked out of the small claw marks River had left on his nose.

_“That’s what you get for insulting a future forest guardian,”_ River spat.

The Liepard growled, his beguilement disappearing. There was now violent anger in his gaze. _“That’s it. I’m gonna give you exactly what you deserve, runt. You want a battle? I’ll_ show _you a battle!”_

In that moment, Natural made a decision that would change his life forever.

This Liepard was going to kill River.

He couldn’t let that happen.

He couldn’t let his brother and best friend die.

Natural bolted out of the bushes and threw himself in front of the Liepard. _“Don’t!”_ he yelled. _“Don’t hurt him! He’s my brother!”_

The Liepard recoiled backwards in shock, hissing. The other Pokemon all gasped.

_“Natural, what are you doing?”_ River cried. _“I was just about to battle him! Get out of my way!”_

_“Are you blind?”_ Natural retorted, his tone rising. _“Can you not see that this Liepard wants to_ kill _you? You would never win a battle against him, River! You are too weak! Stop being so STUPID!”_

Silence. River’s ears flattened against his skull as he lowered onto his belly, shaking slightly as he stared up at him, stunned. Natural’s chest heaved as he glared down at his brother.

It took a moment for the anger to clear from his mind, and he realized that this was the first time he had ever raised his voice toward River. Regret instantly flooded over him.

_“You,”_ the Liepard said behind him. _“You-Your a human. And you can_ speak _Poke-talk. How?”_

Natural turned to face him. _“What are you talking about? I’m not a human. I’m a Pokemon, just like you guys. Is that not obvious?”_

The Pokemon didn’t answer, just continued to stare. The humans were staring at him too-and then the head human stepped forward, studying him with a predatory look in his eyes, a wide, triumphant smile on his face that made warning bells in Natural’s head scream, telling him to _run_ , run away as fast as he could, to a place where this intimidating creature would never find him.

_“Why is he staring at you like that?”_ River whispered.

_“I-”_ Natural swallowed hard, his throat going dry. _“I don’t know.”_

_  
_ _“Is he the one we have been looking for?”_ a Whirlipede asked his friends.

_“I believe so,”_ the first Liepard answered. _“It’s Lord Ghetsis’ son. The one who will usher in the age of liberation.”_

_“Son?”_ Natural echoed.

_“Liberation?”_ River said.

They were silenced when the main human began barking at the Pokemon. They listened with intent alertness. Natural was spooked; why did these Pokemon listen to humans so willingly? The very idea of it was mind-baffling to him.

Who...Who _was_ this...this Ghetsis person?

And what could he possibly want with him?

\------------

“My lord, are you sure this is the boy we have been searching for?” Zinzolin asked. He was examining the small child with a look of distaste-and to be quite honest, Ghetsis didn’t blame him. The boy was feral; wearing nothing more than tattered clothes that were barely holding together, and with his hair abnormally long and tangled, it was obvious that he had been living in these woods for a long, long time. Thea had done a swell job at hiding him. No doubt it was his past lover’s Zoroark who had been taking care of the child all these years. Where the accursed Pokemon was now, he didn’t know, nore did he care. His son was here, and that was all he needed.

“Yes,” Ghetsis answered. “He is my son. My wife whisked him away to some unknown location many years ago. I never would have thought that it would be here, in Pinwheel Forest, of all places.”

“And are you sure that your son will live up to your plan?” Bronius said. “The boy is uncivilized. It will take many lessons to teach him how to be a human being.”

“Patience, my dear friend, patience.” Ghetsis turned to look at his companions. “Anything can be done correctly with time. I have already hired many teachers to show N how to act and speak properly. By the time he is a teenager, I am positive he will be one of us.”

The other men nodded and murmured in agreement. Good-Ghetsis liked when people agreed with him. If they didn’t...well, he had ways of changing their minds. His pokeballs felt heavy against his side, and he smiled ruefully.

He stepped close to the boy and bent down on one knee. The Zorua at his side growled, but he ignored it; the furball could do no harm to him. Raising his right hand, he gently brushed his fingers over his son’s hair.

The boy’s eyes were large and frightened. Good. Let him be afraid. Fear could be molded into respect and obedience. Natural was finally his.

But no. He wouldn’t call the boy by the name his mother had given him. Thea was dead to Ghetsis. From now on, the child’s life and identity would be decided by _him_.

“You are going to do many great things, N Harmonia,” Ghetsis said. “And oh, how I’m looking forward to it.”


End file.
